Customers at Christos liquor store who ask employee Stephen Parker who the store’s chalk artist is are likely to receive a made-up name. Sometimes he simply claims ignorance, but he refuses to take credit.

Customers who ask owners John or Nick Christopoulos or their sister Madia ChristopoulosToll will hear all about Parker’s art, and be shown all the examples in the store.

“He won’t brag, but I’ll brag for him,” Nick said. “The closer you get, you see the more intricate detail, and if you see some of his other work – it’s incredible – they blow me away. I try to buy them off of him – it’s insane.”

Parker’s parents got him the job at Christos when he was 18. The two families are longtime friends. What started as a simple chalk board display, assigned because Parker has good handwriting, quickly evolved.

Known to coworkers as “Jonesy”, Parker’s artwork highlights the store’s craft beer section, but a walk around the store will reveal portraits of police and another store employee.

Parker’s depiction of Edgar Allan Poe, which has been displayed for the Halloween season, took more than 20 hours to complete. A closer look at the rather macabre likeness reveals intricate details, such as tiny tunnels and cracks in the exposed bone or blood vessels in the eye.

His pieces must begin in the upper left corner, working right and down to avoid smudging the art. Parker, a Glen Burnie High School alum, said chalk art’s fragility is the biggest challenge. He said he’s destroyed an image simply by blowing away excess dust after taking a drink of water – just a few tiny droplets can wreck an entire area.

One of his favorites was decimated by attempting to preserve with artist’s fixative spray, even when applied from a distance.

Transportation of the pieces is another issue. He must sandwich a finished piece with another frame and tape the two together. After display in the store, Parker’s been able to store some pieces behind glass in his home.

“You have to be kind of a maniac to do it – that’s why no one else does it,” Parker said.

Chalk art adds another level of complexity because it is the opposite of traditional drawing – instead of adding black to a white background, chalk adds white or color to a black background. All shading is done in reverse.

“It’s kind of cool like an optical illusion – you see grey tones and how you get different shades, and just the way chalk transitions over the black surface in different areas,” he said.

Parker was a relentless drawer as a kid. In school, he frequently was in trouble for his cartoonish depictions of his teachers or classmates. Family members were quick to make their requests for custom work.

While at Glen Burnie High School, Parker painted a mural of a huge wave near the media center, as well as a couple of the school’s mascot – the gopher.

The self-taught artist with many mentors said he’s probably completed 1,000 likenesses – grandmothers, babies, a crab, occasionally a landscape or two – but it’s the human face that he loves.

“I love to capture the human face,” Parker said. “I find it really interesting to find something 2-D and make it lifelike. The most subtle highlights can make it come alive. There’s some humanity behind doing portraits.”

Parker said he’s always been a bit of a shy person, but his art allows him to express himself. Although in the past he has taken on many commissioned pieces, these days he prefers to work on his own creations.

“I used to take anything I could get because I loved to do it, but the last few years I’m more into retraining myself,” Parker said.

Despite his talent with chalk, Parker’s favorite media is oil paint, which can take even longer due to drying time. Although his pop art creations are customer favorites, such as his most-popular Marilyn Monroe, Parker’s favorite is a portrait of his girlfriend.

Parker said customers always like to see familiar faces. For him, sentimental value adds to his favorites’ worth. He’s been working on a self-portrait for three or four months.

“I cannot wait to see his self-portrait when it’s finished,” Nick said. “That dude is insane.”

Photos of the people and places as featured in the Glen Burnie East column in the Maryland Gazette.

In addition to jewelry and stocking stuffers, the sale offers additional accessories as well as children’s and men’s items. The proceeds benefit the Medical Center Foundation, which supports many initiatives such as building improvements and technological advancements.

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The Rev. Sarah Lamming and her wife the Rev. Diana Carroll talk about their marriage in their Annapolis home.

The Rev. Sarah Lamming and her wife the Rev. Diana Carroll talk about their marriage in their Annapolis home.

CAPTION

The Rev. Sarah Lamming and her wife the Rev. Diana Carroll talk about their marriage in their Annapolis home.

The Rev. Sarah Lamming and her wife the Rev. Diana Carroll talk about their marriage in their Annapolis home.

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Key School, an exclusive private school in Annapolis, is at the center of a newly released report that details a history of alleged sexual abuse that went unchecked between the 1970s and early 1990s. The report concluded 10 adults in authority positions engaged in sexual misconduct or inappropriate relationships with at least 16 former students.

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To share your news in the Glen Burnie area, contact Amy Laque at MDGazetteAmy@gmail.com or 443-924-6440. Follow her on Twitter @GlenBurnieTalk.